Monday, 26 November 2012

Sunday, 21 October 2012

What's the Difference between Omnivore, Hebivore, Carnivore?

Herbivores are on the opposite end of the dietary food chain from carnivores. Although herbivores can sometimes be seen eating live foods, the proper diet for an herbivore consists of plants, algae, and fruits.

They have no true stomach; instead they possess a specialized intestine that is capable of breaking down plant matter. Their teeth are flat, which allows them to grind food before swallowing it. Because they lack a stomach for holding large volumes of food, the herbivore must eat frequently - at least several times per day. Because herbivores require frequent feedings of vegetables and fruits, they are often not the best choice for a community tank.

Carnivores have a short intestinal tract, and a relatively large stomach designed to hold an entire fish. Their digestive system lacks the ability to digest vegetable matter, so even though they might eat plants, they cannot derive nutrients from them as other fish do. Because they will chase down and eat other fish in the aquarium, carnivores are not suitable for a community tank.

Omnivores eat a variety of meat and vegetable matter. Although omnivores can and will eat vegetable matter, they cannot digest some types of grains and plants. Their teeth and digestive tract possesses some of the traits of both the carnivore and the herbivore.

Omnivores are the easiest of all fish to feed, as they eat flake foods as well as live foods, and everything in between. For that reason, omnivores are an excellent choice for a community tank.

As you can see, it's important to feed your fish the proper diet, as their bodies are designed for certain types of food. If you aren't sure what type of food your fish needs, use the dietary type chart.

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. For example, plants get
energy from the sun, some animals eat plants, and some animals eat other
animals.

A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological community (an
ecosystem) to obtain nutrition. A food chain starts with the primary energy
source, usually the sun or boiling-hot deep sea vents. The next link in the
chain is an organism that make its own food from the primary energy source -- an
example is photosynthetic plants that make their own food from sunlight (using a
process called photosynthesis) and chemosynthetic bacteria that make
their food energy from chemicals in hydrothermal vents. These are called
autotrophs or primary producers.

Next come organisms that eat the autotrophs; these organisms are called
herbivores or primary consumers -- an example is a rabbit that
eats grass.

The next link in the chain is animals that eat herbivores - these are called
secondary consumers -- an example is a snake that eat rabbits.

In turn, these animals are eaten by larger predators -- an example is an owl
that eats snakes.

The tertiary consumers are are eaten by quaternary consumers -- an
example is a hawk that eats owls. Each food chain end with a top
predator, and animal with no natural enemies (like an alligator, hawk, or
polar bear).

The arrows in a food chain show the flow of energy, from the sun or
hydrothermal vent to a top predator. As the energy flows from organism to
organism, energy is lost at each step. A network of many food chains is
called a food web.

Trophic Levels:The trophic level of an organism is the position it
holds in a food chain.

Primary producers (organisms that make their own food from sunlight
and/or chemical energy from deep sea vents) are the base of every food chain -
these organisms are called autotrophs.

Primary consumers are animals that eat primary producers; they are
also called herbivores (plant-eaters).

Secondary consumers eat primary consumers. They are carnivores
(meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants).

Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.

Quaternary consumers eat tertiary consumers.

Food chains "end" with top predators, animals that have little or no natural
enemies.